7 Months

Dear Annie,

On your 7 month birthday, I am just awestruck with how much you change literally every single day now! The biggest change of this past month is that you now move with intent - over the past month with each day you got closer and closer to moving forward toward something you want, and just in the past few days you've figured it out! You are still in the process of refining your technique - I quite like the worm move that you have down right now! It's hilarious to watch you wiggle your way toward things. You seem quite pleased with yourself when you get them!

The other big development with you this month is babbling - there really is nothing cuter than hearing you say dada, even if you aren't directing it at your dad when you say it - I am waiting (not so) patiently for that first mama! I love hearing all the noises you make, and having conversations with you. It definitely seems like you understand us much more now - you also seem to be recognizing your name - although we call you bunk just as often as Annie, so you respond equally well to both :)

You are still such a happy baby most of the time - on weekday evenings, you tend to be crankier after a busy day at daycare, but the vast majority of the time you are quick to smile and pretty easy going!

I finally think everyone is right when they say you are teething... the random bouts of crying that are unexplainable are so sad to hear - you really sound like you are in pain :( Luckily most of the time you can be distracted, or nursing helps, but I do hope that the pain gets better for you and that tooth makes an appearance soon.

We started feeding you solid food this month - so far, you have had avocado, squash, sweet potato, carrots, green beans, peas, pears, watermelon, cucumber, bananas and peaches. You don't ever seem particularly thrilled about eating, but you still manage to eat a decent amount. You haven't outright refused anything yet, but so far the big winners were banana, sweet potato and watermelon (of course!).

Breastfeeding is going very well for us now - you nurse 5 times a day, and it usually takes 10 to 15 minutes. A far cry from your newborn days when you were eating 10-12 times for 30-45 minutes! You also are taking 6-7oz bottles at daycare with no issues. When you were around 7 weeks old, we truly never thought that would happen :)

You have a nice routine down now, and I am so thankful for that! You take 2 fairly good naps every day, a short nap in the morning, and a longer nap in the afternoon. This makes it a lot easier to plan outings! Your bedtime has been creeping earlier and earlier, and now you go to bed around 7pm, and have been sleeping solidly until 6:30 or 7am. It seems that if we put you down a little earlier, strangely enough you will sleep later. Lately, you have been waking up in the mornings to practice your crawling technique in your crib - it's pretty funny to watch you rocking up on all fours silently for a few minutes before we come get you.

This past month has been so much fun, and I know that we have so many more amazing moments yet to come!

Love, Mom